This invention relates generally to a dispenser for playing cards and more specifically to a card dispenser adapted to reduce the likelihood that the identity or characteristics of cards delivered from the dispenser can be predicted.
In many games of chance employing cards, individual cards are selected one at a time from a card stack. Assuming a random arrangement of a set of unique cards in the stack, the probability that a specific card will be drawn from the stack is simply expressed mathematically. In the case of the first card drawn, the probability is just the reciprocal of the number of cards in the stack. If the drawn card is randomly replaced in the stack after every draw, the probability of drawing a specific card on any draw will be the same. When the drawn card is not replaced, the probability of selecting a specific remaining card or one of a specific class of remaining cards from the stack increases. Further, the identity of the cards already drawn is known and the likelihood that a specific card or one of a specific class of cards will be drawn can be predicted by the astute player.
In professional gambling games, it is desirable to draw cards from a stack in a manner which approximates the drawing with replacement described above. House rules can be established to provide the house with a statistically fixed proportion of the bets, based on the probability that a specific card will be drawn.
"Card counters" are individual bettors who carefully monitor the cards played from a particular stack so that they predict the changing probability of a specific card being dealt and bet accordingly. Card counting is an integral part of many gambling games. While drawing with replacement minimizes the effect of card counting, the replacement of individual cards is impractical in gambling casinos. Indeed, operators of gambling casinos have in the past approximated drawing with replacement by forming the card stack from multiple decks of cards and relatively frequent shuffling. While these methods significantly reduce the losses which operators might otherwise experience from the bets of card counters, skillful counters are often able to glean valuable information by observing individual cards in the card stack. There is a significant need for a device for dispensing playing cards which further reduces the ability of card counters to reduce net house winnings.